This invention is directed to disposable sheaths for endoscopes and more particularly to a low profile disposable sheath that provides effective flushing of surgical debris away from the viewing end of an endoscope.
The term surgical debris is intended to refer to any body material such as blood or tissue that obscures the field of view of an endoscope during surgery.
Endoscopes permit a remote visual view of a surgical site while a surgical procedure is being performed. During surgery, blood, tissue or other body material from the surgical site can splatter onto the viewing end of the endoscope and impair the field of view through the endoscope.
In some instances it is necessary to remove the endoscope from the surgical site to clean the viewing end, which usually interrupts and undesirably prolongs a surgical procedure.
Because of the inconvenience of removing and cleaning an endoscope during surgery, some surgeons prefer to use an endoscope with a sheath that has provision for flushing away at the surgical site any surgical debris that obscures the view through the endoscope.
Known endoscope sheaths, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,991,565 and 4,974,580, are generally custom fitted to the endoscope. The sheath often includes air tubes, water tubes and suction tubes to flush away or suction away surgical debris from the viewing end of the endoscope. The irrigation, suction and air tubes on the endoscope sheath can add significant girth to the profile of the endoscope and thus require a relatively large incision to accommodate the sheath with the endoscope.
Since many endoscopes are of different length, a diversity of corresponding sheath lengths are usually required to provide a compatible fit for each different length endoscope. Endoscope sheaths of different length are thus maintained in inventory by suppliers and users to ensure proper match-up with a selected endoscope.
It is thus desirable to provide an endoscope sheath that is adaptable to a variety of different endoscope lengths, can be of low profile, and permits flushing of debris away from the viewing end of the endoscope.